uperstorm sandy. captioning funded by cbs >>> is >>> this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 13th, 2012. good morning, everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. we begin this morning with the negotiations to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. so far this week, president obama and house speaker john boehner have spoken twice. boehner says differences remain and he's told lawmakers not to make plans for the week after christmas, which means we'll probably be here, too, including susan mcginnis in washington this morning with the latest. susan, good morning to you. >> hi. good morning, terrell. as the white house continue to fail at coming to a conclusion on the budget, this fiscal cliff is not waiting for the end of the year. it's affecting america today. well, even santa claus is upset. santa claus showed up on capitol hill wednesday, urging congress and the white house to strike a deal to avoid the looming fiscal cliff before christmas. >> it's discouraging that our elected leade